The Price of Progress: A Right-of-Way Dispute That Reshaped the Region
When an exorbitant demand from a local farmer stalled the Great Northern Railway, the company threatened to bypass Snohomish and Everett entirely in favor of Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Rumors have been afloat for several days that the plans of the Great Northern have been materially altered, and that the road would not strike Snohomish or Everett on its way to Puget Sound, but would come down as far as Cherry Valley, diverge to the left, passing through the rich Snoqualmie region, and on to Seattle, where it will first touch tide water. To a certain extent, these rumors are now thought to be largely founded on facts; T. M. Crow, a logger in the vicinity of Sultan, arrived in the city today, bringing positive information that McCain, foreman of the wagon road being constructed to transport materials, had received orders direct from headquarters to cease all work. The cause of the changing of the route is asserted to be the enormous prices asked for the right-of-way; a Mrs. Harvey, who lives opposite Snohomish, demanded, so it is alleged, $700 per acre for the right-of-way through her farm. Chief Engineer Stevens, of the Great Northern, recently stated to a close friend that the abandonment of the projected route through Snohomish to Everett had been under contemplation for several weeks past, and that it was certain that Seattle would now be made the principal Western terminus of the Great Northern.
“The cause of the changing of the route is asserted to be the enormous prices asked for the right-of-way.”
This 1892 report highlights the immense power wielded by early railroad developers when shaping the geography of Pacific Northwest cities. Today, the tension has simply shifted from the location of rail lines to the placement of light rail stations and the high costs of urban land acquisition.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.